26 Reasons Why
by insanely nudge
Summary: 26 reasons, 26 one-shots and 26 letters to the alphabet!angst, humor, romance, each one-shot will be different from the last but they ALL have one thing in common...FAX! each chapter has a summary for the one-shot. R&R and enjoy
1. Another Way is Always There

26 Reasons Why…

**Nudge: so this first one is a song-fic based on the song "Breathe" by Paramore and of course it is filled with Fax! So this is my version of what should/could have happened when Fang tried to leave the flock back in the 6****th**** book. (and I apologize in advance if it switches POV a lot)**

***disclaimer: I don't in any way own Maximum Ride or "Breathe" I am only just an obsessed fan of both…..**

Chapter 1: Another Way is Always There

Max's POV

I locked the door to my room and sat down at my desk pulling out a single sheet of paper and a pen. Today was the day and I was finally going to do it. I couldn't take this type of torture anymore, it was all just too much. Never before did I notice it but, when he was with me my life became just a little more bearable. But now…I constantly feel like I'm drowning.

Every fake smile I manage to pull over my lips and every breath I take trying to convince both myself and the flock that everything will be ok is just wearing me down.

_**I climb, I slip, I fall  
>Reaching for your hands<br>But I lay here all alone  
>Sweating all your blood<strong>_

_**If I could find out how  
>To make you listen now<br>Because I'm starving for you here  
>With my undying love<br>And I, I will**_

I couldn't think, eat, or do anything anymore without feeling as if my heart were being ripped out of my chest. The flock didn't need me like this and it was only a matter if time before I completely cracked.

I stared down at the paper finally sure of what I wanted to do and the tears began to fall as my shaky hand scribbled the words onto the scrap of paper.

_Dear flock, mom, and Ella,_

_ I really have no way to explain this so it makes sense so, I guess I'll just have to try my best…_ _You know how they say Rome was once a huge empire. It covered most of the globe and was more powerful than anything the world had ever seen. And somehow they managed to be reduced into a small, little city._

_ It's because of this I think I should be named after Rome…_

_ You all had to have known this was coming. I used to be so strong and undefeatable. Now. I'm nothing and will never be anything without __Fang __him. _

I angrily crossed out the word, learning for the billionth time how hard it was to even write it out without the accompaniment of an excessive flow of tears. Then I began to write out my last words with a trembling hand and a stream of tears that repeatedly crashed down onto the paper before me.

_Now I'm just the little city that used to resemble who I was. These past few weeks I've been trying to make it work but….i just can't. I'm dying. And I can't stop it and now I just don't want to anymore. So this is my goodbye. I love you guys more than you could ever know so don't you dare spend anytime sulking, this was just my time to go._

_ Love,_

_ Max_

_P.S. If you guys ever see him again…try to convince him it wasn't _all_ his fault._

Fang's POV

As of right now I found myself flying over the forest not to far from the flock. I was only about 50 miles off but it felt like an eternity. And for that reason I also discovered that I was bound to this area, almost as if an invisible shield were keeping me here.

It had been almost a month since I left the flock and quite frankly I had no clue what I was doing. Every single moment of everyday I missed them. And to be more specific _her_. I couldn't help it. Her picture was burned into my mind with perfect clarity. Her strawberry blonde hair, her perfectly unique wings that secretly took my breath away every time she flew, even the way her chocolate colored eyes almost seemed to change color when ever she was mad. For the life of me I couldn't take that picture out of my head and I don't ever think I want to.

_**Breathe for love tomorrow  
>Cause there's no hope for today<br>Breathe for love tomorrow  
>Cause maybe there's another way<strong>_

Silence. That was all that filled the air around me. It was something that I never even imagined was possible while flying. I could always hear the wings of my flock beating somewhere behind me like a signal telling me everything was fine. But now…there was nothing. Nothing was there to tell me that my world was centered and right side up. Nothing to whisper to me 'Fang, you have no need to worry'. Nothing telling me I had a reason to live.

But what the silence did bring was worry. A sense screaming that my world was about to take a drastic change. One that I could never reverse, and that was all it took. I needed to see her. Just one more time to make sure she was ok. And then. Just maybe then I could leave with something close to a clear conscience.

So I turned around without a second thought and flew in direction of my flock.

Max's POV

_**I climb, I slip, I fall  
>Reaching for your hands<br>But I lay here all alone  
>Sweating all your blood<strong>_

For days I had secretly been contemplating how I would do this. If I hung myself I might get nervous and mess something up and drowning was just too messy in general, not to mention the possibilities of Angel or Gazzy, God forbid, ever finding my body….

So I decided pills were the best way. I snuck a bottle from my mom's emergency medicine bag and hid them in my room days ago. They were labeled something along the lines of Fentanyl. The only thing I had left to wait for now was the nerve to finally use them.

I scooted away from my desk and stood up; bringing my note over the nightstand, exactly where I knew someone would find it. Then I went over to the dresser and pulled out the pills from the hiding place all the way in the far back right corner.

Holding them in my hand felt like power. As if at last I had control over my life and what was going to happen to it was only at my discretion. And now. The pain would soon be over.

Tears were silently streaming down my face and my hand was violently trembling as it undid the bottles small white cap.

_**If I could find out how  
>To make you listen now<br>Because I'm starving for you here  
>With my undying love<br>And I, I will**_

Fang's POV

_**Breathe for love tomorrow  
>Cause there's no hope for today<br>Breathe for love tomorrow  
>Cause maybe there's another way<strong>_

I could feel it strong as ever now, it became a loud pulsating crash inside of me that screamed something was wrong. I was only about a mile away now but no matter what I did it was never close enough and I was never quick enough. Yet my wings were sore with how hard I was forcing them to fly, any more speed and I was sure they would fall off. But I couldn't begin to think of how much that didn't matter.

Half a mile.

As the forest below began to slowly clear up I felt it even more. Every inch closer I got it grew and now there was no doubt that something wasn't right.

I finally saw the house come into view in the distance and before I knew exactly where I was headed I was there, staring straight at Max's window on the side of the house. It was all out of my control now, I was flying full force towards that small window that had to have held _her_. Before I knew that little transparent portal grew larger and larger and I now could almost see into the room. I was frantic, straining myself to keep from screaming out her name. And then I saw.

She was standing in the middle of the room holding something I couldn't exactly make out and I immediately felt a wave of uncontrollable joy wash over my emotions. But that soon faded as I flew closer. Now I saw wet streaks running down the sides of her face creating small rivers flowing from her eyes and I couldn't help but try and push my wings to fly faster. Then I could finally see exactly what she was holding. Her hands opened a small bright orange bottle and emptied its contents onto her hand. They were pills. And if I knew anything about her it was that she never took any type of medicine.

But it just didn't add up. She wouldn't be. And then it became clear as day and that warning screeching in my heart finally gave itself a name. I was about to loose my Max.

Max's POV

My hand poured the pills into my hand, feeling their weightless power in my possession. I stared at the small pile not even bothering to count. It was now or never and I definitely needed my agony to be over. So with one last breath I took the pills in my hand and shoved them into my mouth at once, chasing them down with a glass of water I had waiting at my bedside.

I fell back onto my bed and closed my eyes, feeling the pills begin to fall down my throat. It was done. All I could do now was wait for death to whisk me away from this world.

Fang's POV

I saw her begin to shove the pills into her mouth and fall back onto her bed. But that couldn't have been it, I just could _not_ have been late. I didn't even bother to stop for a safe landing, instead I sped my way down and plowed through the open window and into the room.

"Max!" I screamed unable to hold it anymore. Her body was laying on the bed, limp and it looked as if she were gone. But I couldn't accept it. I _refused_ to accept it. I picked her up from the bed and shook her, begging with every inch of my being for her to wake up. I brought her closer into my embrace and began basically pounding her back trying to do everything I could to get her back to me.

"Max! Please! Please don't do this!" I screamed at her praying that she would respond.

_**Breathe for love tomorrow  
>Cause there's no hope for today<br>Breathe for love tomorrow  
>Cause maybe there's another way<strong>_

"Is that Fang?" I heard Nudge say somewhere out in the hall way and soon the rest of the flock's voices followed. But I seriously could care less. Max. _My_ Max was laying unconscious in my arms and no matter how much I pounded her back she wouldn't respond. And as if that weren't enough I could hear the flock on the other side of the wall screaming in alarm and pounding on the door, pleading for me to open it. Though that didn't exactly mean that I was going to stop trying.

"Maximum Ride! Dammit I love you too much for it to end like this! _please_! Just….please," I hugged her tighter beginning to feel a tear trickle down my face that had never once felt the wetness of a tear on its skin. But in the next moment I swore that I would never stop believing in miracles.

She coughed. Softly at first and then vigorously. She was coming back to me, my Max wasn't all gone.

_**I climb, I slip, I fall  
>Into your empty hands<br>But I lay here all alone  
>Sweating all your blood<strong>_

"Max?" I screamed as she suddenly roared back to life coughing and finally spilling out the pills from her system. My hopes sprang back to life and finally I knew she would be fine.

"Fang?" I heard her say weakly almost in disbelief.

"Max it's me. I promise."

She looked up at my face and I saw the wet panes on her face that had almost dried overflow with fresh tears.

"Fang. You," she buried her face into my shirt and slithered her arms around my neck, clinging to me with everything she had, "You're here."

"Max, _please_ don't ever do that to me again," I said letting my face sink into the long blonde hair I missed with a burning fire.

"But you left me," she said in a stubborn and Max-like fashion, letting me know that she was still every inch of my Maximum.

"And I'll never do it again. Just remember Max, there's always another way for me to be with you," I whispered just wrapping my mind around the fact that she was fine, "Always." I said again and squeezed her tighter deciding that it was a sheer impossibility for me to ever even think about leaving her again.

**Nudge: so I hope you enjoyed the story! It's a bit dramatic so maybe the next chapter will be a bit more cheery. And I beg of you, pwease review!**


	2. Basements Bring Chaos

Chapter 2: Basements Bring Chaos

** Nudge: So to make up for the quite angsty fic that was up last, I decided to write something a bit more whimsical this time. It's set after all of the books happen and the flock is living with Dr. M. The rest of the flock and Ella are tired of Max and Fang's constant bickering, so they decide to take care of the matter. And what exactly ensues? Well it's something along the lines of Max and Fang torture. ENJOY!**

** P.S. Oh, just to let you know, as far as I'm concerned, Dylan never existed (yes... I know that it's 'wrong' to exclude a character but I just don't like the dude… at all). **

Max's POV

"For the thousandth time Fang, turn the damn music down!" I screamed outside of Fang's room while furiously banging on his door.

Usually I wouldn't mind hearing My Chemical Romance, in fact they were among my more recent favorite bands. But considering the blaring headache splitting my skull, I was less than enthused to feel the booming bass of Fang's speakers crashing through the house.

"Fang!" I smacked my fist into the door again, "Are you even paying attention to me? Turn. It. Down!"

Apparently Fang did hear me. But instead of listening to what I said he decided to do the exact opposite and turn the music up. My head nearly shattered into pieces and within seconds I could hear the loud blast of the song "Teenagers" rupture through my body. If it weren't for the pain wrapped around me like a snake I was sure I would have been seeing red by now.

I've had this annoying headache for at least three days, and the rest of the flock knew very well that if they wanted to live, then they would stay on my good side. Fang somehow missed that little memo though.

"Fang!" I shouted over the speakers loud enough to make even Nudge proud.

The blaring music was silenced and within a moment Fang snapped open his door. He had his usual blank stare on his face and yet I could still tell he was enjoying every moment of aggravating me. His black hair fell in a mess across his face and he was still in his all black pajama bottoms. And that was pretty much all he was wearing. Some how I guess he had managed to 'loose' his shirt and instead all I saw was his flat stomach.

Seconds of silence stretched into the air between us and for a moment I had almost forgotten what I was going to say. Just as my mind began to recall what I was about to say Fang interrupted.

"Did you call for me?" Fang said with a cool smirk across his face ignoring the fury boiling through my eyes.

"Cut the crap Fang," I retorted flatly crossing my arms, "And do me a favor. Keep the music down."

"Let me think about that," he paused, "No."

Before I could respond he closed the door and the loud music resumed blasting through my ears.

"Fang I'm gonna kill you!"

Ella's POV

The flock and I were all gathered around the TV like any other Saturday afternoon. Nudge and Angel were both sharing the largest couch directly in front of the television and Gazzy was sprawled out on the floor in the middle of the living room while Iggy and I shared the love seat near by.

Nothing out of the ordinary seemed to be going on. At least that was until our Top Chef rerun was interrupted by the only other people that weren't currently in the room. All of a sudden I heard Fang's music scream its way down the stairs and billow all throughout the house.

"Fang!" Max's angry voice screamed quickly following the incessant music. Soon after I heard her fists smashing into what I assumed to be Fang's bedroom door.

"Ugh, not again," Gazzy wined as I saw him roll his eyes.

"This is what? The third time in the past two days, if they go on any longer we're gonna have to send them to therapists," Nudge echoed.

"Nope, actually it's more like the fourth," Iggy corrected. And I couldn't agree with them more. For the past few weeks Max and Fang have been at each other's throats every other moment of every day. When ever the two of them were in the same room together it was like a ticking time bomb and any little thing would set it off.

They argued over everything from music to whose chores where whose. After a while the rest of us just began to clear the room when ever they were together. Heck we even knew all of the signs of their fights by now.

"Fang what the hell is wrong with you!" we heard Max scream.

"Well what's wrong with you!"

"You and your damn music that's what!"

"Oh get over it princess!" Fang snapped back.

As I looked around the room I could tell by everyone's less than happy faces ridden with annoyance that they needed to stop. This was ridiculous and we all knew it.

"Guys," I began getting everyone's attention, "We have got to stop them, this is crazy."

"I agree," Iggy said staring in my general direction.

"Besides it is kind of obvious how much those two totally love each other," Nudge said coolly.

"Yup," I agreed.

"And how would you know that? I mean they're always screaming at each other," Gazzy asked splitting a look of bewilderment between Nudge and me.

"Exactly Gazzy, they don't know," Iggy said putting his two cents into the conversation.

"Yes we do too!" objected Nudge.

"She's right, these things just come with being a girl. And since you two are guys," I paused staring Gazzy and Iggy down with a look of triumph, "you are too blind to see the obvious."

"Fine then, but tell me. How exactly are we going to stop them?" Iggy retorted sarcastically.

"I," I paused desperately grasping for an idea, "don't know."

"But we have got to figure out something, I'm going insane listening to the two of them," Nudge said hopelessly.

"Ugh you're so annoying!" Max's voice split through air.

"And like you're so perfect!" Fang angrily spat back.

Max and Fang's argument plowed on only proving Nudge's point further. We listened to the two love birds argue for a few more minutes and were on the verge of giving up on our little venture when Angel, who had been sitting with a thoughtful look on her face for most of the conversation, chimed in.

"I have an idea," she said innocently and immediately grabbing all of our attention.

"What?" we all asked leaning in curiously.

Max's POV

"Ugh just forget it!" I screamed at Fang and angrily stomped my way back to my room as I heard him slam his door shut behind me. Angry couldn't even begin to explain how absolutely aggravated I was right now. Hell I could have sworn that by now there were fumes of smoke billowing behind me as I walked down the hall.

When I reached my room I charged my through the door and plowed into my bed carelessly. I had no clue when or how this started happening but that boy has gotten to be the most irritating creature I had ever seen. Every little thing he does seems to only annoy me. And the worst part is that I just know he enjoys it.

_Damn flying idiot…_

I laid face down on my bed sulking and mentally cursing Fang's name for the better half of an hour before I realized it was finally quiet. Before I could secretly cuss him out again I thanked him a little bit and finally began to feel my headache subside just the smallest bit.

"At least he managed to do something right today," I silently whispered under my breath. I had definitely spoken too soon though.

_We are breathing, while you're sleeping, go, GO! And leave us alone!_

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?" I shouted out loud into my empty room as I felt crimson film into my eyes.

"Max?" someone asked me.

"What?" I snapped while just trying not to completely spas out. That's when it finally occurred to me that I should probably pay attention to who was in the room. When I allowed the red coating to slip away from my vision I looked up and saw a frightened Angel staring at me with a wide eyed deer in the headlights expression.

"Oh I'm sorry," I told her trying to regain the reigns on my anger, "What do you need sweetie?"

"It's Fang," she said in a panicked tone.

"Yeah right, I'm sure the imbecile in black is just fine," I retorted under my breath while trying to down play the small pit of worry forming in my stomach.

"No he's not Max! He's in trouble and I need you to help us please!" she pleaded with her big doe eyes singing a song of sorrow.

"What happened?" I demanded springing up from my bed ready to leap into action, "Erasers? The school? What?"

"It was one of Iggy and Gazzy's bombs. Fang found one and it went off before he could get out!" Angel said with enough conviction to make me truly panic myself.

"Well where is he now?"

"The basement Max and hurry please!" she cried after me as I began rushing down the stairs and towards the basement. The walls and the house as a whole mashed into a gigantic blur as I tore through the halls in a mad dash. I had no clue why I cared so much about that bird boy with how much hell he put me through. But as much as I wanted to deny it there was a small part of me that couldn't imagine life without my fellow partner in bickering.

After the longest two minutes of my life I found myself wrenching open the basement door and staring down the rickety wooden stairs of the basement. I stopped for a moment, confused. I was sure that after what Angel told me I would have at least been able to see someone down there, but instead all my eyes could see was the usual expansion of darkness.

"Angel what's going on? There's no one down here," I asked looked behind me at the small eight-year-old.

"Now Iggy!" she shouted and out of no where I saw Iggy's body come flying towards me like a locomotive. Before I could even begin to defend myself Iggy slammed into me and shoved me down the basement stairs. In a natural reaction I unfurled my wings and let them catch up enough air to stop my descent before I could collide with the cement floor.

When I regained my bearings I snapped my head back up towards the top of the stairs. Angel and Iggy were staring down at me with almost sorry glances but I knew very well that the look I was giving the two of them could kill.

"Sorry Max," Angel said innocently.

"But it's for your own good," Iggy finished and closed the door behind him. I raced up the steps in a flash and pulled at the knob furiously trying to reopen the door. But just as I expected Iggy was smart enough to lock the door before he left. A bit defeated, I sauntered my way back down the stairs and sat down on one of the old lazy boys that exhaled a plume of dust as I flopped down.

The medium sized basement was just like any other. A thick coating of damp musty air and dry dust covered the atmosphere like dense fog. The walls were made of a dark grey stone that was simply covered with cobwebs and a single light hung limply on the ceiling barely managing to maintain a small consistent glow. All off the discarded forgotten junk that my mom had accumulated over time was sent down here and cluttered at least half of the room.

I sunk myself deeper into the chair and sulked while a steady stream of frustrated mumbles slipped from my mouth.

"It's for your own good my ass," I huffed under my breath while slowly thinking of all the possible ways I could get out of here and not get caught for bird-kid murder.

Fang's POV

"Ugh just forget it!" Max screamed in my face before stomping off in the direction of her room. I couldn't help but chuckle a little bit at her anger before shutting my door behind me and walking back to my bed.

I leaned back on the head board and resumed staring at my computer screen when another brilliant idea popped into my head. I set my computer down and leaned over to grab my ipod from the desk top speaker. As I flipped through the songs I slightly smirked at myself for my own evil genius.

_Perfect._ I thought as I stopped at "Perfect Weapon" by Black Veil Brides, a personal favorite of mine. I maliciously snapped the ipod back into the speaker and made sure to turn the volume all the way up before pressing play. Immediately I heard the loud bass boom through the walls and I knew for sure that Max could hear it loud and clear.

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?"

I heard Max's voice scream over the music and I was more than sure that she was talking to me. Another chuckle slipped through my mouth as I imagined Max's expression right about now. With my little prank over, I ignored her, grabbed my laptop and began mindlessly surfing the internet.

Quite frankly I could figure out why I enjoyed annoying Max so much. Or when it started for that matter. But after a while I found I couldn't help it. It was never done out of spite or to truly hurt her. Besides I couldn't do that even if I wanted to. Part of me knew that it was probably wrong but on the same hand the lesser than noble part of my mind soon figured out how hot Max looked when she was mad.

Between how lost I was in my own thoughts and Black Veil Brides' booming music, it took me a solid ten minutes before I noticed someone banging on my door. I half way expected it to be Max but nonetheless I tuned down the music and directed my attention to my door.

"My I help you?" I called out.

"Fang help its Max!" I heard Gazzy cry from the other side. Before my brain could process anything any further I sprang up from the bed and wrenched the door open.

"What? What happened? Is she ok?" I asked Gazzy in a panic. Instead of answering my though, I saw his face contort into an expression somewhere between disgust and confusion before he spoke.

"Dude. Ummmm where's your shirt?" he questioned me looking at me sideways.

I rolled my eyes at him and grabbed the nearest shirt to me before hastily shoving it on.

"You said Max was in trouble. Now what's wrong?" I asked him quickly loosing patience as my mind flurried over every horrible thing that could have happened to Max.

"Oh yeah!" he said, "It was –."

"Erasers? A mob of fly boys? What man tell me!" I screamed louder than I think I ever had ready to burst.

"No! She fell down the basement stairs and landed on one of my old bombs! We need your help before –,"

I cut Gazzy off before he could finish and sprinted down the stairs. I was twisting through the halls and at the basement door within a second. Without a moment of hesitation I ripped the door open, almost taking it off of its hinges.

"Max?" I shouted into the darkness and began stomping down the stairs. I was about half way down when I heard the door shut solidly behind me.

"Iggy the key!" Gazzy shouted and before I knew it I heard the door click as it locked.

"What the?" u whispered and rushed back up the stairs and jiggled on the doorknob trying to open the door back, "What are you two doing?"

"Fang we're sorry but it had to be done," I heard Nudge say from the other side of the door.

"Yeah, you and Max argue way too much!" Ella chimed in soon after, "So we're leaving you two in there until you can get it together."

I heard the flock's footsteps fade away and I was about to try opening the door again when I was interrupted.

"And don't kill each other!" Iggy finished before I heard him walk away.

Max's POV

After the longest fifteen minutes of my life I heard the basement door open. I was about to make a dash for it when I heard my name, followed by an all too familiar scenario.

"Max?" I heard Fang scream. Not a second later I heard the door slam behind him. Apparently the entire flock was here this time. I listened to them bicker with Fang for a couple of minutes before they did to him exactly what Iggy did to me. The door snapped loudly as the lock clicked. Not a minute later did I heard Fang cursing while trying and failing to open the door again.

"Give it up man," I said a bit boredly as I got up from the chair and began walking up the stairs, "been there, tried it all. That door is not going to budge."

Fang turned towards me and I stopped about half way up the stairs.

"Seriously?"

"Yup," I answered walking back to my lazy boy and resuming my slouched position in the chair. Fang followed not too far behind me and took a seat in another discarded sofa across from me. An awkward silence wafted through the air for an uncomfortable five minutes before Fang broke the silence.

"Can you believe this?"

"Yeah, we don't exactly argue _that _much," I answered.

"Yeah," he said lamely.

"Besides it's not even my fault. I can't help that _someone _here is too annoying for his own good."

"What ever, its not like you're the easiest person to live with," be retorted back looking away. Considering the circumstances I would have normally cussed him out before he could blink twice. But if anything I knew the bird-boy sitting in front of me, and ever since we were kids he could never manage to lie to me to my face.

"Yeah right liar," I told him coldly. I scoffed quietly and watched his every action prove me right. Even the way he avoided looking me in the eye told me the truth.

In silence soon began to suffocate us again and a cool fifteen minutes washed by as the awkwardness only seemed to grow thicker. After forever of not putting two and two together, a prodding question pushed its way to the very front of my mind.

"Hey Fang."

"Yeah?"

"How's they get you down here?" I asked him quizzically. Fang paused for a moment and his facial expressions changed ever so slightly, letting me know he was thinking over his answer.

"They told me you were in trouble…" he said a bit more bashful than I had ever seen him. I couldn't help but feel touched by the way Fang came for me. Over the last few weeks I kind of forget that part of him. The part that I knew I could never loose trust in, and now that I rediscovered it, I almost found myself missing it.

"Oh…" I responded uncomfortablely while awkwardly running my hand through my hair.

"What about you?" he asked me, "How did they get you down here?"

I paused the same way Fang did when I asked him that very question before I found the words that would fit.

"They told me you were in trouble…." I repeated to him the words he said to me.

When my whisper left the air I expected him to take me seriously but instead I heard his light chuckle float through the air.

"Why are you laughing at me?" I demanded feeling a bit offended.

"I'm not laughing at you Max," he said slipping me a small smile, "I'm laughing at the both of us. We've spent who knows how long arguing over nothing when it was all pointless. I mean it just makes no sense to fight with the only person I really love."

When he finished my eyes grew into dinner plates and from the look on Fang's face I knew that he had let one too many words slip. My heart was beating in the most rapid and involuntary way while my mind completely surrendered to shock and shut down. I leapt from my seat unable to sit that close to Fang at the moment and began pacing back and forth searching for the words for this moment that didn't exist.

"Did you just say you love me?" I said stopping to look at him. I studied Fang's eyes and saw them cross the emotions of hesitation and sincerity before he answered.

"Yes," he took a deep breath and stood up until he was about a foot away from me, "Maximum Ride, I love you."

When I searched his eyes I could see all of the passion in the world stored in them. I had never seen this side of Fang and by all means I would definitely not mind keeping it. My thoughts were completely lost in his eyes when I suddenly felt his lips on mine.

My normal instincts told me to pull away from him, but the longer the kiss lasted the less I was able to hold onto reality. All common sense flew out of the window and before I could think my arms found their way around Fang's neck. I felt Fang's hands slide to rest lightly on my waist and it soon became apparent to me that his kiss was definitely my kryptonite.

When he ended the kiss I found myself breathless and lightheaded. His face was only inches away from mine and as I stared into his dark eyes I felt myself loose every little piece of… everything. And at this moment my mind had still run away without any sign of ever coming back.

"I love you too," my mouth whispered without my consent and yet, I knew I didn't ever want to take it back. As soon as the words fully left the air Fang smiled a full on grin that brightened up the room. He tightened his grip on my waist and pulled me into the biggest, securest hug I had ever felt.

While in our own little world we never noticed the basement door open. It wasn't even brought to our attention until we heard a precession of 'awws' from the peanut gallery we call the flock.

Fang and I sheepishly smiled back up at the group at the top of the stairs. When they had all finally trickled away Fang turned to me and gave me another electric kiss.

"I love you," Fang whispered again allowing another elated smile burn brightly onto my lips.

**Nudge: so I hope you liked it! and I'm sorry if it wasn't exactly up to expectations but either way tell me what you thought and R&R pwease! **


	3. Cutting me Free was a Dream

** Nudge: So I got the idea for this one from listening to "Heart-shaped Box" by Nirvana (if you haven't heard it then you NEED to, it's an amazing song). It's AU and Max and Fang are nothing more than friends…at least that's what Max thinks. Max is going to UCLA with her sister Angel and her friends Iggy, Gazzy (brothers), Nudge and Fang. Life seems to be going great but her boyfriend Dylan seems to always chain her down. But can Fang change all of that?**

Max's POV

"We should finish chapter seven on Tuesday and then the test will be on Wednesday. Which reminds me class of the time when I was in BYU and my roommate…"

Professor Hunter's monotone voice droned on as usual and I slowly began to wonder if his lectures were the sole cure to sleep apnea. I could have cried when I found out that UCLA required his chemistry class for my major. But lucky for me my best friends James and Monique (who had somehow acquired the nicknames Iggy and Nudge) ended up in the class with me.

When I looked over at Nudge she rolled her eyes looking as if she were going to die and Iggy didn't seem any better, he was slouched over in his chair staring forward with the most glazed over expression I had ever seen. Fortunately this was my last class and it was Friday, meaning I wouldn't have to see Professor Boredom again for another two days.

"And that class is the end of my lecture," Professor Hunter ended his speech and not two seconds later the entire class scrambled for their belongings and began rushing out of the class room in a giant mob.

I met with Iggy and Nudge a few feet away from the door and we exchanged looks of relief.

"And don't forget about the homework I assigned today!"

"What homework is he talking about?" I asked Nudge.

"Like hell I know, you really think I was paying attention? Let's just get out of here; this room is making me sick."

Following Nudge's orders we hurried out of the room and rushed outside of the building to meet the rest of our little gang at the amphitheatre. Fang, Gazzy and Angel were waiting patiently at our usual spot under a large weeping willow and I let a small smile escape my lips in greeting.

The six of us had been friends since grade school and quite frankly we were thick as thieves. We were all only separated age wise by about a year or so with the youngest being my sister Angel and Iggy's brother Gazzy. It never ceased to amaze me how we all ended up going to the same college. In fact that was probably what made college life bearable.

"Hey guys what took you so long?" Gazzy said shifting his weight impatiently.

"It's called Professor Hunter's hell-ish chemistry class," Nudge exaggerated as she stopped under the tree's shade.

"Yeah his lecture went on forever," Iggy chimed in.

"Alright in that case let's forget about class, this is the weekend and I need some stress relieving fun before finals start next week," I said redirecting our attention from my less than admirable chem teacher.

"Definitely, how about we meet up later today?" Fang suggested staring at me with a half smile that made my heart involuntarily speed up to a crazy pace.

"Yes I totally agree! How about the bar on Martinez Boulevard?" Gazzy suggested cheerfully.

"Man you are right on that one!" Iggy said to his brother as they bumped fists gleefully. Which was something that I never understood how Iggy accomplished considering he was blind.

"Nah I really don't feel like some bar today how about some place else?" I suggested.

"No way! Besides, Angel and I have been twenty-one for a whole two weeks and have yet to step foot in a bar," he protested.

"Gazzy let me tell you, alcohol is definitely nothing to get excited about," I told him, flinching a little as I remembered my first encounter with drinking on my twenty-first birthday. Iggy decided that Nudge, Fang and I should all go out for one massive party since we all had birthdays in the same couple months. Let's just say I was so drunk that the next morning I woke up with the biggest hangover in the universe and couldn't remember the last twenty-four hours of my life.

"Aww c'mon Max you know you want to," Gazzy said slyly as he slinked his arm around my shoulder in a coaxing manor.

"Max just let him go, he'll stop wining if you do," Angel bargained using the more age appropriate strategy.

"I am not wining!" Gazzy pouted allowing all of us to roll our eyes a bit and chuckle at his immaturity.

"Fine then, we'll meet at the bar at about nine. Is that alright with you Gazzy?" I teased lightheartedly.

"Yups, that is perfectly ok with me," Gazzy said grinning proudly. We all laughed at him and I jokingly shrugged him arm off of my shoulder. A round of laughter and conversation filled the air as we began to loudly reminisce about nearly everything.

I was lost in a round of laughing and loud conversation when I heard my name bellow from the crowd behind me.

"MAX!" an annoyed voice echoed from somewhere far off. When I snapped my head around to look at where the call came from I saw my boyfriend Dylan come walking towards me. We had met my freshmen year in UCLA and we had been going out ever since. And since this was my junior year, that would make three years of dating. He was usually a perfect gentleman, but sometimes – he just changed completely on me.

"Hey Dylan," I said cheerily giving him a hug when he finally caught up to me.

"Where were you? I thought I said we were meeting at the library after your last class got out," Dylan demanded completely ignoring saying hello to me and my friends. When I looked out of the corner of my eye I saw Iggy, Angel, and Gazzy turn their heads away disapprovingly and to my left I noticed Nudge roll her eyes and cross her arms with sass.

"Oh sorry," I said waving off Dylan's temper in an attempt to cool things down, "I guess I just lost track of time."

"What the hell kind of excuse is that?" he scolded as if I were a child and I could begin to feel my anger rise with it, "I told you something and I expect you to obey."

"Obey?" Nudge chimed in, "look pretty boy she is not your child and she definitely isn't your pet. Therefore, she , in no way, has so obey anything your narrow minded jack-."

"Nudge!" I shouted cutting her off before she had time to finish her sentence. She only gave Dylan one of her signature looks of attitude before stopping. My friends never did like Dylan for some reason. Most of all Fang, even now when I slipped a look over at him I saw his jaw tighten and his eyes narrow in on Dylan angrily.

"Dylan, Nudge is right though. So cool it cause your temper is seriously getting on my nerves," I said defending myself.

"Whatever, Max we need to go. I have things to do and because of _you_ I'm late," Dylan said heatedly and grabbed my arm jerking me away.

"Dylan stop!" I shouted just low enough to not cause a scene and snapped my arm back. When I looked back at Fang this time I could all but see his eyes smolder, "Look I was talking with my friends. You can't just barge in and –."

"Nah Max its fine," Iggy said trying to downplay his own anger.

"No its not we –," Iggy elbowed Nudge slightly with a stern look, "Yeah Max," she said in a forced tone, "We were just about to leave."

"Are you guys sure?" I questioned delicately.

"Yeah Max go ahead with Dylan," Angel assured me, "We'll see you at the bar later on."

"Alright Ange," I said waving them all good-bye. The rest of the group began walking away but Fang seemed to be rooted to his spot. Since Dylan had showed up Fang hadn't said a word. I looked at him with a small smile that tried to assure that everything was fine and tried to tell the same lie to myself as well. He lingered behind for just a little while longer before giving one last cautious look at Dylan and strolling away down the path towards the rest of the group.

I watched him leave for just a moment longer before turning back to Dylan.

"What the hell was that Dylan?" I shouted at him angrily, "And in front of everyone? What were you thinking?"

Dylan's look never changed as I scolded him. He just stared back at me impatiently and returned my tone with even more conviction.

"Oh shut up and stop complaining!" he spat, "Seriously Max sometimes I just want to –."

"Want to what!" I shouted, daring him to finish his sentence.

"Aggravate me further and I can assure that you will find out," he responded through gritted teeth, "Now hurry up and come on. I told you, I have things to do."

Dylan snatched my arm again and quickly began pulling me away towards the parking lot.

_|~\/~|_

About three hours of running all around Los Angeles with Dylan I finally made it back to my apartment in the city. Grateful to be home I solidly closed the door behind me and flopped onto the couch. I sunk deep into its cushions and allowed my muscles to slowly unwind.

Dylan was my boyfriend and I loved spending time with him, but a solid three hours of doing all of his errands while listening to his complaining was less than ideal for me. Especially while in one of his moods. The whole time he did nothing but argue with me over the most mundane and trivial matters.

I took a deep breath to help myself relax and looked over to the digital clock sitting on the coffee table. When I scanned the clock the bright red letters read 6:32. Meaning I had apparently spent more time with Dylan than I had thought. Now I had just enough time to finish the English paper I had to email my professor by tomorrow and get dressed to go out at nine.

In a normal fashion I flipped on my radio and let Fall Out Boy filter through my mind in preparation for the writing job I had in front of me. I plopped my laptop onto my knees and began to type out the eight page paper which I had barely started on.

About a dozen chocolate bars, a cry of boredom and a three-peat of a Fall Out Boy album later, my paper was written. I checked the clock again and all but flipped out when I saw that the numbers now said a cool 8:36.

"Dammit," I whispered under my breathe as I quickly saved my essay and shut down my laptop. I had no clue how, but through some miracle I had to take a shower, get dressed and drive half way across town – by nine. So without wasting any time I hopped up and took and the quickest shower ever to have ever existed.

I rummaged through my closet like a mad woman throwing out almost everything I saw. Six. That was at least how many outfits I ran through before I finally chose one that I deemed to be suitable. It was a pair of black skinny jeans, a simple white tank top with a graphic print of a black wing that spiraled around it, topped with a black vest and finally pulled together with my favorite leather boots. I was finally ready to walk out the door.

With a quick look at my cell phone to check the time I found that I had only five minutes left and was barely going to make it. I grabbed my car keys and just as I opened the door I found something that I never expected.

"Dylan?" I asked. Standing, or wobbling rather, right at my doorstep was Dylan. I guess I shouldn't have been so surprised considering we were dating but I had never exactly seen him like this. His blonde hair was drenched with sweat at the tips and his bangs that were usually swept neatly to the side were now covering his eyes. His posture was bent and broken with only one hand that clutched the frame of my door keeping him up. He looked at me with his head slightly lulled forward and his stare was glassy and blank as if he couldn't focus.

"Hey babe," he slurred followed by a loud hiccup.

"Dylan are you alright?" I asked a bit worried as I looked at him stagger back and forth. But instead of answering me he rocked his weight forward and placed a rough and sloppy kiss on my lips. I could taste all of the alcohol strongly lingering on his breath and a thick layer of salt lay across his lips from all of the sweat. He forcefully gripped my waist and pulled me into him with enough power to let pain slip through. I tried my hardest to push him off but unfortunately he out powered me. It wasn't until I stomped on his foot as hard as possible that he let go. With him distracted I pushed him further away from me.

"You're drunk," I spat at him angrily as I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand in disgust.

"Aww c'mon babe, don't be that way," Dylan protested with an goofy smile on his lips.

"No Dylan, go home!" I said back pushing his chest, trying to make him walk back out.

"NO!" he shouted back at me and out of no where I noticed his mood shift into anger. He barged himself into the room and slammed the door behind him.

"Dylan. Leave. NOW!" I screamed at him growing more enraged and fearful by the second.

"I said no!" he blasted back. Before I could open my mouth to protest he took the back of his hand and smashed it harshly across my face. The blow sent me flying back into the sofa behind me. I held the side of my face and stared back up at Dylan in shock.

My emotions swirled with absolute furry at his audacity to even dare and lay a hand on me. I felt my stomach burn with anger and in a split second I lunged back at him. Like most of my life I allowed my more boy-ish side to take hold and voted on the side of violence. My fist went flying towards his face without another thought and hit him square in the jaw.

"What the hell was that!" I screamed at him as he recovered from my punch. Dylan didn't say a word, instead he stood back up and returned my punch with full force. His fist landed hardly on my eye and I took a couple steps back to balance the blow.

"Max, one day you'll learn not to make me angry. And you'll learn that lesson one way," he stopped cracking his knuckles, "or another."

In spite of the pain I stared back at Dylan with the most resent and wrath I had ever felt rush through veins at one time. If anything I knew in my heart I would never play the damsel in distress role. And I would fight until the end of the earth to keep it that way.

Fang's POV

I drove up to the bar and turned off my car. Usually I would be more than happy to see everyone after a long day but just seeing Dylan once today completely changed that. Watching how he treated Max and completely disregarded her wishes made me mad enough to kill sometimes.

As I locked my car and walked into the restaurant I tried to swallow my emotions for Max's sake. Hell she was really the only reason I came here tonight, because I knew it would make her happy to see everyone. Otherwise I doubt I would have stepped foot out of the house with how I felt. Just the thought of Max with _him_ killed me inside. Everything about Dylan seemed wrong to me, his attitude, his personality, and definitely the way he yelled at Max, enraged me. Yet for some reason she stayed with him.

I could treat her so much better. The way someone as amazing as her deserved to be treated.

When I walked through the door of the bar I tried to suppress the thoughts rushing through my mind for Max's sake. I walked in and looked around the bar's busy atmosphere for the gang. The place was covered with people, I wouldn't even stand in one spot longer than a few seconds without being bumped into by someone. After a few moments and a more than bumped into shoulder, I was waved down by Nudge who sat with the group at a table over in the corner.

"Hey," I said quietly as I slid into the booth next to Iggy.

They responded with a chorus of greetings and resumed their usual conversation. But as I looked around at our table I noticed a certain member of our band missing. A bit confused, I looked at my phone and noticed that it was already fifteen minutes past nine.

"Hey guys where's Max at?" I asked looking around the table.

"Now that you say something Fang, she hasn't come yet," Iggy said speaking up.

"Maybe she's running late," Gazzy answered.

I nodded a little taking Gazzy's solution but considering Max's personality, I knew it was way out of character for her to be late for anything. Usually I was the last one to arrive everywhere.

"Gazzy you know Max though. That doesn't make any sense," I argued back, "Max would have called even if she knew she was going to be more than a minute late."

"I guess so," Gazzy said back.

"Look I'll just call her cell to see if she's on the way," Angel offered giving a simple solution. We all waited patiently as she held the phone up to her ear. Angel's face crinkled up in confusion after a couple minutes and I watched her call Max at least three more times before she put her phone back defiantly, "She won't answer," Angel finally admitted.

That was it. I could feel it now clear as day, something was wrong with Max. There was no way of explaining how or why I knew this, but there was absolutely no way that I was going to ignore it. I followed the pit of worry sinking into my stomach and hurriedly got up out of my seat.

"Where you going man?" Iggy asked as I got up.

"To check on Max, something isn't right," I answered him quickly and rushed out of the door. I was out of the door and in my car in a flash. There was no way I could help it, something was wrong with Max and I was surely going to find out. I would always come for her. No matter what.

Max's POV

After only thirty minutes of Dylan and me fighting I found myself with a black eye and bruises lining every inch of my available skin. My face was on its way to being swollen and my arms were spotted with black and blue. But I would die before I let him walk all over me.

His fist smacked into my jaw again and I went falling into couch again. Dylan came closer to me and was about to let another punch loose. Just as I saw his hand fly towards me I blocked it and kicked him as hard as I could in the stomach. He fell back over the coffee and landed with a thud on the floor.

I got up from the couch and cautiously inched closer to him. Just as I got within a couple of feet of his body is foot darted out of no where and tripped me. Caught off guard, I was sent spiraling into the ground and landed with a painful crash. The wind was knocked out of me upon impact and my head collided with the ground in a loud smack. My eyes squinted through the pain and saw Dylan towering over me maliciously. Before I even had the chance to regain my breath his foot came plowing into my stomach so hard that I couldn't help but buckle in agony.

"You done fighting me Max?" he spat at me with an authoritative tone that made my blood curdle. The searing hurt was rupturing through every inch of my body and my lungs contracted painfully as I coughed up a pile of blood. I slowly pulled my arm up to my mouth and wiped away the crimson still lingering at the corners of my lips.

"Never," I said to him with acid dripping from my voice. With my resolve I saw Dylan's eyes glow with rage and a malevolent smile creeped its way over his mouth in a way that made me cringe.

"Oh you will learn."

Another kick hit me in my stomach followed by another in my back. In every way I could I tried to block Dylan's blows but the longer I fought the harder it got. About five minutes of eternity later I thought he was finally going to stop. But I was just so wrong. His kicks stopped for a split second and he finally spoke.

"Done yet?"

Before I could respond I wiped more blood from my lip.

"No," I told him stubbornly. I would rather die on my feet than live on my knees and if that was how I had to go then so be it.

Dylan was all too willing to help me with that. Instead of responding, I felt myself lifted up from the ground and smashed against a wall. As soon as my back collided with the hard surface behind me I felt Dylan's rough fingers dig deep into my throat. His hands squeezed my neck tighter and tighter until I could literally feel my windpipe closing. Within seconds I could feel all of the oxygen leaving my body quicker than I could replace it. My eyes began to slowly inch to a close and soon Dylan's face began to blur out of sight. The blackness was about to completely consume me when I was surprised a second time that night. But in a whole different way.

I heard the front door slam open angrily and for the first time tonight Dylan took his attention away from me.

"MAX!" an all too familiar voice screamed. I managed to look over and saw Fang staring at Dylan with a homicidal glare that made his eyes smolder with fire. In a flash Fang tackled Dylan down to the ground and I was finally released. Relief flooded my mind and I couldn't have been more thankful than at that very moment. When Dylan's hands left my flesh I fell to the ground on my knees and desperately gasped for precious air.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Fang pin Dylan down and give him a huge dose of his own medicine. By this point I should have been out cold but somewhere between my own stubbornness and the sheer will to watch Dylan suffer I wouldn't allow myself to look away from the fight before me.

Dylan was stuck to the ground under Fang and from what I could tell this was one brawl he wasn't going to win. Fang's expressions showed exact how livid he was and every fist he sent flying into Dylan's face served as a perfect example.

"Don't you ever!" Fang screamed at Dylan between punches, "Touch," punch, "My Max," black eye, "AGAIN!"

In a short two minutes Dylan's face was laden with two black eyes and turned into a less an becoming shade of purple. I know that this was definitely not the time but I couldn't help but feel something completely new for the boy I had known my whole life. Fang was always there for me. Even when I didn't expect it. And as if the timing couldn't be more incorrect I finally noticed that I had been with the wrong guy this entire time. Figures it would take him fighting for me to finally get it straight.

As I watched Dylan getting the living day lights beat out of him my wounds soon began to outweigh my stubbornness. The darkness returned and slowly began to invade my vision. Weakness flooded through my vein and reality soon ebbed its way from my fingertips.

"Fang," I said as loud as I could, hoping that he would hear me. But like always he never disappointed. The next thing I saw was Fang tossing Dylan aside and rushing over to help me up.

"Max," he said with worry dripping from his voice. He gently scooped me up into his arms and picked me up bridal style. Even with my vision blurred I tried my best to focus in on his eyes, "Max stay with me please. It'll be just fine, please just stay with me."

I felt a rocking motion and noticed Fang rushing out of my apartment. Inside of the worry and care Fang showed me and the way consciousness slipped away, I could no longer help myself from saying exactly what I was on my mind.

"Fang," I heard my far away voice whisper.

"Yes Max?" he asked looking at me with concern as he put me in the passenger seat of his car and clicked the seatbelt carefully.

"Love," I paused searching for air, "you. I love… you."

Those were the last words I remember saying before the darkness finally came for me and took me away.

_||~\/~||_

Off in the distance I heard a loud and rhythmic beeping echo in my ear. As the seconds ticked on it seemed to grow louder and louder. Soon I could feel the darkness slipping away and its grasp on me release until I could sense reality inching closer to me. As the blackness edged away I saw my vision returning to me. At first it was a blur and then the scene before me took shape.

"Max?" a voice said close to me. When I could fully see again I saw Fang's worried face sitting beside me.

"Fang?" I asked groggily, "What happened?" I questioned as I looked around and began noticing I wasn't exactly at home anymore. In fact I was in a hospital room.

"Dylan," Fang answered with a bit of acid in his voice.

"Oh," I said recalling everything that happened, "how long have I been here? And where's the guys at?" my mouth rushed unable to clearly voice all of the thoughts scampering through my brain.

"Well you've been out for about a day, the doctor said you got a concussion and the guys just went home for the night," Fang said patiently. I watched his eyes slightly look away from me and stray from me in his own signature way.

"What is it Fang?" I asked him a bit worried.

"Max, was what you said before you fainted…. true?" he asked me as his eyes bore into mind almost pleading. I allowed silence to enter into the air as I tried to remember those moments… and those words. When I finally picked up the courage I spoke again.

"Yes," I said looking him in the eye and taking a deep breathe, "I love you."

Fang didn't move and inch. All he did was stare into my eyes and give me the perfect half smile that I completely adored. Before I could gather my thoughts Fang answered me, and in a very nontraditional way. His lips descended upon mine in a light and gentile kiss. It was soft and almost hesitant but it was the best thing I had ever witnessed in my life. My senses went crazy and apparently so did my heart, for the heart monitor I was hooked up to went off on a high speed chase. He chuckled a little into the kiss and when his lips left mine all I could do was stare him in the eyes with a plastered grin on my face.

"In that case," he stopped, "I love you too. And more than you could ever imagine."

**Nudge: and scene! haha so that's it! i hoped you liked it and with any luck the next chapter should be up soon!**


	4. Dreaming is Dead

**Nudge: Ellos! It's (obviously) time for another chapter of pure faxness! This one is a song-fic set to "Blinding" by Florence + the Machine (amazing song, I suggest you listen to it!). Dylan and Max have been dating for four years now and things seem to be going just fine. But when Dylan cheats on Max who exactly does Max go running to? Hint, hint, its one of her closest 'friends' who just so happens to have obsidian eyes and perfect pitch black hair. (Oh and this one is also all human/AU) Hope you like it!**

Max's POV

The rain cascaded to the ground in a steady pace against the window pane like a snare drum. It was mid Feburary and like any other Seattle day, the sky above was cluttered with clouds that loomed with a heavy gray atmosphere. And as rainy Friday tradition held, my best friends Nudge, Angel, and Ella sat bundled up in my living room sipping hot chocolate and watching an endless supply of movies. It was something that we had done ever since we were kids back in New York and now that we were going to school in Washington next to nothing had changed.

"I swear I would die to have half of Anne Hathaway's wardrobe for this movie," Nudge wined as we watched The Devil Wears Prada, her choice of course.

"Nah screw the wardrobe, I want the guy," Ella answered as if she were a fifteen year-old freshman rather than a sophomore in college.

"Ella you might want to stop it, don't forget you kinda have a boyfriend missy. Iggy? Remember him?" I teased smirking at Ella.

"What ever. You know I would never cheat him Max," she paused before turning her head back to the television and murmering, "Unlike someone's boyfriend we know."

Apparently she had forgotten one very important thing about me. I don't miss anything, and least of all her last comment. I had been with my boyfriend Dylan for four years now and never once in that time did any of my friends show their aproval. By this point they only tolerated him. But nonetheless little remarks like Ella's never ceased to annoy me.

"Ella what do you mean by that?" I demanded with a bit of edge in my voice.

"Max don't get mad, I'm only saying this for your own good," Ella said turning around to face me again, "And you need to know the truth. Because you could do so much better Dylan. I mean we all know he's been cheating on you for like ever."

"Ella I don't know why you ever think I would believe that. I know Dylan and he would never do that, so please just stop insulting him," I fired back as my temper rose.

"I'm not lying Max! I just wish you would wake up and see the obvious!"

"Hey hey hey. Whoa guys," Angel interupted before our argument could go any further, "look no fighting allowed. Max, you know Ella was just trying to look out for you and Ella, if Max doesn't want to hear it then she just doesn't have to."

Angel split hesitant looks between me and Ella and at her wishes I tried my best to smother my anger. Besides over time I had learned that this was a loosing battle and nothing good could ever come of fighting with my best friend.

"Hey I have an idea," Nudge added cheerfully to help brighten the sinking mood in the room.

"What?" I asked.

"More hot chocolate," she answered from my kitchen as she rummaged through the cupboards feverishly.

"Fine," I said chuckling a little, "So who want to go to the store with me?"

"Not it!" all three of them screamed before the words could even fully escape my mouth.

"Oh c'mon, seriously people?" I said rolling my eyes.

"Well Max, because we love you so much and since this _is _your house, we're gonna let you go out to get the hot chocolate," Ella said with her signature botox barbie smile.

"Yeah, I can just feel the love," I retorted sarcasticly as I got up from my comfy couch and grabbed my keys to head out of the door.

"Oh! And make sure it's Starbucks hot chocolate!" Nudge called after me as I walked out of the door.

All I could do was lightly chuckle into the cold air as I pushed up my umbrella up and tightened my coat against the bitter wind and rain. I jumped into my car and drove to the closest starbucks, which considering they were lingering on every corner in town, wasn't too hard. I parked in a stall at the front of the door and hurried into the warm atmosphere to escape the pelting rain's icy fingertips.

I put my umbrella down and absentmindedly walked up to the cashier's desk without paying much attention.

"Hey can I have four of the largest sizes of hot chocolate? Oh nad put extra fudge on top of one of them?" I ordered thinking of Nudge's unshakable chocolate addiction.

"Max?" a voice said and for the first time I actually decided to pay attention to my surroundings. Though that didn't mean that I didn't know who was talking at the first sign of their voice.

"Oh! Hey Fang!" I said cheerily as he rung up my order. Fang, like the hoard of hot chocolate craving girls back at my house, was my best friend since childhood basically. So it was only fitting that he accepted his admittance letter to Washington University in Seattle.

"Hey, so I would ask what your doing here but according to your order I'm gonna guess the girls are over your house?"

"You already know the answer Fang," I said laughing a little. Considering how late it was, the Starbucks was pretty slow so Fang and I had time to talk while someone filled my order. We spent about ten minutes talking about basically nothing and everything when I saw Fang's face speak to me something very different than the smile he was wearing. Fang never was the one for very big expressions but if you knew him as long as I had then you didn't need all of that to know what he felt. So considering the way his eye's slightly enlarged and how his lips zipped themselves up into a tightly smoothed line, I knew he was shocked.

"Fang are you alright? What's wrong?" I said curiously. When he didn't respond I followed his line of sight to the front door. And I couldn't even fathom what I saw.

_**Seems that I have been held, in some dreaming state  
>A tourist in the waking world, never quite awake<br>No kiss, no gentle word could wake me from this slumber  
>Until I realise that it was you who held me under<strong>_

It was Dylan… kissing some short skirted red head with more make up painted on her face than a drag queen. No. Let me rephrase that, they weren't kissing, they were more of about to make a baby on a sidewalk outside of starbucks. If words could even begin to express the fury, rage, pain, and agony that flooded every single one of my senses, then I would never cease believing in miracles. I felt like I had ben stabbed in the heart by the sharp blade of betrayal. And the worst part? Dylan didn't even have the descentcy man up to it and tell me face to face. Instead this was how I had to find out. I stood there shell shocked for a moment, but when my anger finally got the best of me I dropped it all and headed outside._**  
><strong>_"Don't kill him Max!" Fang shouted behind me. But by now I could have cared less about what he said, my vision was already filled with thick crimson and Dylan was going to pay._  
><em>

_**Felt it in my fist, in my feet, in the hollows of my eyelids  
>Shaking through my skull, through my spine and down through my ribs<strong>_

I tore out of the door and stomped my way up to Dylan and his slut. Apparently he didn't even notice my presence for he was still stuck like glue to the red head. Too furious to even bother with words I grabbed the girl by her hair and snatched her head back until she was forced to unlatch herself from my now ex-boyfriend. I watched with a small bit of joy as her face contorted up into a look of shock. But she wasn't who I was worried about. I shoved her aside and put myself between her and an even more shocked looking Dylan.

"Dylan you have negative two minutes to explain before I send your body to the morge!" I screamed, my eyes almost glowing with rage.

"Who are you and why are you after _my _boyfriend?" the red head shouted at me from behind and moved to get closer to Dylan.

"Bitch if you were smarter than the pole you work on then you would figure out that he's been cheating on both of us!" I screamed back at her as I watched her pea sized brain try to catch onto what I just said.

"Max calm down. I mean, um…. It wasn't what it looked like!" Dylan said pleading and giving me the worst line any man could ever come up with.

"Dylan was my birthday December 26th?" I asked him with fake tranquility.

"Um….no?" he answered looking both scared and confused.

"Then don't fucking treat me like I was born yesterday!" I screeched at him about to loose my mind, "I have been with you for four years! And _this _is how you repay me?"

"But Max I didn't mean to hurt you it was just that –."

"Oh save your sorry apologizes because if you really meant it then you wouldn't have done it in the first place!" I cried at the top of my lungs.

"Max that's not true I love –," befort Dylan could say it I slapped him across the face so hard I could already see a large bruise forming on the side of his face.

"Don't you dare say you love me! Don't you dare!" I screamed letting all of the hurt and fury slip into each one of my words. In the mix of emotions I felt angry tears slowlky trickle down my face.

"Max don't cry just calm –," I was about to punch Dylan across the other side of his face when someone's strong arms wrapped themselves around my body and pulled me away.

"Max he's not worth it. Just let him go," Fang whispered into my ears trying to console me. For a moment I felt my resolve's light dim into nothing and a dam of tears were unleashed into Fang's shirt.

"Yup that's right! Cry bitch cause the better woman won!" I heard the red head scream at me. Before I could cuss her out myself, Fang spoke up.

"If you really want to live then I suggest you shut the hell up and leave _now_!" Fang shouted. Unable to deal with the chaos anymore I felt the overwhelming need no leave. I angrily shoved my way out of Fang's arms and stomped my way to my car without ever looking back.

"Max!" I heard Fang say worriedly from behind me. I paid him no attention to him though and climbed into my car, loudly slamming the door behind me. The car's engine reved loudly into the air and with it my radio came to life as well, singing the words to a song that expressed my situation all too well.

_**No more dreaming of the dead as if death itself was undone  
>No more calling like a crow for a boy, for a body in the garden<br>No more dreaming like a girl so in love, so in love  
>No more dreaming like a girl so in love, so in love<br>No more dreaming like a girl so in love with the wrong world**_

I could feel the anger rushing through my veins in a rapid torent until I was completely engulfed into an inferno of anger. My tires tore through down the street with unending power, whisking me away from all of my problems.

_**And I could hear the thunder and see the lightning crack  
>All around the world was waking, I never could go back<br>Cos all the walls of dreaming, they were torn right open  
>And finally it seemed that the spell was broken<strong>_

The rain seemed to crash onto my car like tiny boulders of water. The weather was even worse now, the wind screamed at me and from above I could hear lightening crackle as the thunder's loud tempony boomed across the sky. And I couldn't care less. At this point logic was over taken by my emotions and I was no longer driving.

Anger was.

_**And all my bones began to shake, my eyes flew open  
>And all my bones began to shake, my eyes flew open<br>**_

The raindrops pelted down faster and faster until the road was covered in a blur of rain. But I had been driving in the rain all my life, so the weather was nothing but a minor obstacle. My mind was only zeroed onto my own fury. I had deticated –no. I had wasted four years of my life with a guy who was supposed to be my prince charming. Instead he only turned out to be the toad that broke my heart and cheated on me.

It felt as if all of the trust I ever had in anything was torn away from me and in a natural reaction all I wanted to do was run. Runaway from everything. I had no clue where I was headed, all I knew was that I needed to escape.

_**No more dreaming of the dead as if death itself was undone  
>No more calling like a crow for a boy, for a body in the garden<br>No more dreaming like a girl so in love, so in love  
>No more dreaming like a girl so in love, so in love<br>No more dreaming like a girl so in love with the wrong world  
><strong>_

My foot pushed the gas petal down with wicked force and the car's tires dug into the ground, surging me forward. I really didn't even noticed how much I was disconnected from the world until my cellphone began ringing. I really wasn't in the mood to talk to anyone but when I read the caller id I found that it was the only person I cared to hear from, I picked it up.

"Max stop driving so fast and pull over we need to talk," Fang said in a worried tone.

"How do you even know where I'm at right now?"

"I followed you after you left to make sure you were alright," he answered ernestly, "Now slow down Max, it's raining too hard."

"Fang I'll be just fine. I'll talk to you later just," I paused searching for the words, "just let me go."

I hung up the phone and sped down the watery street even faster. The spedometer on the dash board began going crazy and the needle seemed to tighten up like a coil as it inched up closer to the 100 mph mark. If possible the rain pelted onto my front window even faster and before I knew it the windshield wipers couldn't keep up with the waterfall of rain rushing down. The tires screetched on until out of no where I felt the steering wheel lock up under my fingers. Fear raided my system and no matter what I tried I couldn't regain control. The car began to swivel and twist down the road at breakneck speed and I was helpless to stop it. And in a split second my worse case scenario transformed into a deadly situation.

The car had a mind of its own now and drove onto the opposite side of the road. The rain, still pouring down, swirled with the dark night and obscured my vision until my eyes were rendered useless. Panic consumed me as my eyes darted back and forth between the steering wheel and the hazy road. My frantic motions were only halted by a loud honking of a car echoing mercilessly through my ears.

_**Snow White's stitching up the circuitboards  
>Synapse slipping through the hidden door<br>Snow White's stitching up the circuitboard**_

Shock oozed through every inch of my skin and stopped my muscles cold. In a split second it all came to a crashing end. The bright lights of the car in front of me cut through the rain like a knife and blinded my vision. Before I knew it they crashed into me head on. The impact rattled the entire car as if I were experiencing a category ten earthquake. The front window shattered into a million pieces while I could feel my car shrink around me. Inside of the car I was nothing more than a limp rag doll to be thrown around. My head smashed into the dashboard one second and was sent flying into the driver's window the next moment. I thought the chaos would never end.

_**No more dreaming of the dead as if death itself was undone  
>No more calling like a crow for a boy, for a body in the garden<br>No more dreaming like a girl so in love, so in love  
>No more dreaming like a girl so in love, so in love<br>No more dreaming like a girl so in love with the wrong world  
><strong>_

When the brunt of the crash was over I was left lying limply in my seat, unable to move and the stillest silence to ever descend upon earth filled the air, not even the pouring rain could interupt the eerie moment. My body was a slave to pain and anything else seemed so distant and unreal. From what I could fell one of my legs were broken and my arms weren't too much better off. As I lay there I felt as if my head were being split in two pieces and all down the sides of my face I could feel thick rivers of blood rush down the sides of my face in rapid currents.

Conscious thought began leave my mind and the only thing that became apparent to me was that this could be the end.

"Max!" a far off voice screamed in the distace.

_Fang?_ I thought to myself as I could feel reality slip away. In a few more moments I could hear the car door being ripped open and then feel a pair of hands prying me out of my mangled seat. I winced in pain as I felt my broken leg drug out of the car and couldn't help but let a small wimper escape my mouth as more pain surged through my bones.

"Max?" Fang said as I felt him cradle me in his arms, "Max look at me. C'mon just look at me, everything will be alright, help is on the way."

The rain cloaked both of us, gathering Fang and me up into its wet, icy fingers. The droplets flooded my vision and the more I tried to look up at Fang the less able I was to see. His olive face slowly blured from my view and before I knew it I was enveloped into a vortex of darkness._  
><em>

_||~\/~||_

I had been in the hospital for about three months. One of which the doctors told me I spent in a coma. According to what I was told I suffered from something the head trauma neighborhood and about five broken limbs. If you asked me I could have left after they healed my bones, but against my wishes they said they would keep me here for at least another two weeks.

In the entire time I had been here my family had visited, my best friends came and went, Nudge with her conversations filled with babble and Ella with her hysterics, and yet the one person that probably should have came never did. And if you brilliantly thought of a sertain cheater named Dylan than you are more than correct. He never showed up to see if I was alright, didn't ask about me, and never even botehred to pick up the phone to see if I was still alive.

Part of me resented him for it but even more of me could care less. If anything this only showed me how much he never really cared in the first place. He was supposed to me my Prince Charming, but now because of him I had given up on the fake storybook endings fed to children. They were nothing to me now and never would be again.

With all of the things I began to think about what Dylan didn't do I began to think of what someone else did. Fang. The entire two months he never left my side. He was the first person I saw when I woke up from the coma and even now he saw next to me in my room like an immovable fixture. After a while even the nursing staff gave up on trying to impose on him the hospital visiting hours.

"Fang?" I asked him while he was absent mindedly flipping through the television in the seat next to my bedside.

"Yeah Max?" he stopped turning to face me.

"Why are you here?" I questioned out of the blue. I didn't mean to offend him but considering my past experiences, guys weren't supposed to act like this. There was something that was just so different about him… it was alarming to say the least.

"What do you mean?" he said trying to sound casual, but his slightly rised eyebrow told me he was almost offended.

"No I didn't mean it like that. It's just that… well….," I stopped looking around awkwardly fishing for what I was trying to say, "you're always here and you're always there for me."

"It's just what best friends do," he waved off and if I hadn't picked up the hesitation in his voice then I would have believed his answer.

"Ok now try telling me the truth," I said teasing him. A half smile slipped across Fang's lips and he looked down slightly before staring me in the eye and speaking.

"It's because welll," he scratched the back of his head awkwardly, at a loss for words for the first time since I had known him, "I kinda love you…"

If I knew anything about being polotically correct, then something told me that confessing your love for someone while said person is sitting in a hospital bed is just not proper proticol. I let my mind gather itself up for a moment before I came to plausable conclusion and was able to answer.

"Well duh, of course you do," I said trying to ward off the blust I could feel creeping up on my cheeks, "I love you too, like friends. Right?"

"Not exactly Max," Fang said looking at me earnestly with an excessive amount of sincerity, "Max I know this probably isn't right but it's true. I've always loved you, it's just something I can't help and –."

"Fang please," I cut him off trying to avoid the way my heart went crazy. Because if anything I didn't want another Dylan episode, it was just pain-stakingly obvious now how unreliable living in a fantasy was, "Just don't even try, I'm done dreaming. Prince Charming is never coming for me so you might as well stop now… it just….it just won't work."

"Max I'm not your… prince charming and never will be. I'm more real than that and despite what you may think, I'll always come for you. And you can't stop me from doing that," as he spoke I couldn't help but listen to him and as a warm smile pulled over his lips I was only drawn further in, "With that said, I can just settle for being your knight in shinning armor," he laughed a bit, making me smile along with him, "But only if you let me. Though I doubt that will stop me either way."

Immediately I began mentally kicking myself for the way my heart fluttered as he spoke to me. But as I stared into Fang's eyes even that couldn't stop my heart from following out its own plans. Without any of my muscles say-so I leaned over in my bed and placed a light kiss on Fang's soft lips. When I pulled away I smiled shortly and enjoyed the shock on Fang's face.

"Is that a good enough answer?" I said as Fang began to mirror my grin. And when I looked into his eyes I found something that I should have known this entire time. I don't need to dream – when my reality is Fang.

_**Snow White's stitching up the circuitboards  
>Synapse slipping through the hidden door<br>Snow White's stitching up the circuitboard  
>Synapse slipping through the hidden door<strong>_

** Nudge: so be nice to me because I know that had a large amount of fluffy faxness fluff. But with that said I still hope you enjoyed it! R&R oh! And the next chapter should be up soon…. But according to my crazy winterguard schedule that is never exactly definate….**


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